3 Ways for Teachers to Get Admin Support for STEM Learning
The following is a guest post from Dr. Jacie Maslyk.
So you finally got your dream job! You are teaching a STEM course and taking the lead in your building for all things STEAM, STEM, and maker education. You are ecstatic about this opportunity, but there is one small problem—Your principal or other school administrators are not convinced that this type of learning is the right way to go.
Maybe they are caught up on the messy nature of STEM learning.
Perhaps they are unsure about classroom management within STEM learning spaces.
Or maybe their personal experience has only included clearly defined courses with little integration.
For whatever reason, you will need to consider ways to get them on board.
You now have access to a STEM lab to provide instruction, engaging physical and digital resources and lots of hands-on materials, but without administrative support, how will your program be successful?
Maybe your program has existed for a while and you are looking to make changes. Or perhaps you’ve had a change in leadership that is questioning the mission of your STEM programming.
Whatever the reason may be, it is challenging to forge ahead in your planning and implementation without support from school and district leaders.
Look at each of these challenges as an opportunity to inform others about the benefits of STEM learning. Think about the ways you can promote STEM learning throughout your school and capitalize on every chance to engage others in the creative and fun opportunities that STEM offers.
If anything that you’ve heard so far describes your current circumstances, you might want to equip yourself with some tools and resources to garner administrative support. This post will share three steps that teachers can take to foster support for educational STEM programs.
1. Share Successes
One way that we can build support for STEM/STEAM programs is by creating a positive buzz about the work that our students are doing. Sharing the successes of students can not only promote your program and the learning that happens within it but also lift up the accomplishments of the students in the program.
There are a number of ways we can celebrate learning within our schools. Each school may take a different approach to the celebrations, but here are a few ideas you might want to try:
Online gallery of student work
Social media posts
Student exhibitions
Community learning events
One school highlights a “STEM Star” of the month, posting their picture on a bulletin board outside the STEM learning space. The recognition boasts a positive learning habit that the student has demonstrated like persevering through a difficult engineering challenge or working collaboratively on a team.
They also use social media to leverage this success further by posting this on the school website, as well as their Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. Any way that you can celebrate the successes of your students, the more positive attention you can bring to STEM learning.
2. Resources and Research
As the primary STEM advocate in your school, it is important to share resources and research that supports integrated learning in science, technology, engineering, and math. When you share resources and research with others, it spreads the word on its value as an instructional approach.
Bloomsburg University maintains a great STEM resource page for teachers including information on STEM assessments, equity in STEM, and activities to try with your students. It may be hard to sift through the large amount of research out there, so stick with organizations that are well-known like the RAND Corporation or well-respected journals like The Journal of Research in STEM Education.
This sharing of information can be beneficial not only for your students, parents, and the community but also for your administrator who may be struggling to understand the rigor and relevance that is involved in STEM learning.
Create a website to share resources with your colleagues and school leaders.
Post relevant research articles that support the use of STEM, maker education, and design thinking. There is a growing body of research to support these instructional practices.
Make free resources (take-home kits or other materials) available to parents and families so that they can extend STEM learning at home
3. Engage Them!
It is easy for those on the fringe to not have buy-in for new programs and instructional practices. Take the time to invite school leaders and others into your classroom. Engage them in the activities that students are participating in and allow them to see the level of student engagement that occurs when we implement STEM and STEAM strategies in the classroom.
Better yet, invite other educators and administrators to talk with your students and ask them questions about what they are learning. When students articulate their imaginative thinking and express their enjoyment in learning, there is real power in their testimony.
Invite school leaders into your classroom
Classroom observations can be stressful but this is your time to shine a light on the incredible work of your students. It’s hard to discount the value of a program when you see the excitement and engagement in the eyes of a child.
Plan a family STEM night
This can be physical or virtual. Offer activities that the whole family can enjoy. Creative challenges and hands-on experiments will help admin to see how student curiosity and critical thinking skills are increased when learners engage in STEM.
By sharing STEM successes and the research behind why these practices are effective, you are building the case for the importance of STEM learning for your students. Show others the powerful learning that is being fostered within your STEM space. When parents and the community get involved in your program, the value and importance of your work will increase.
It may take some time and effort, but school and district leaders will see the growth of your students.
They will see the engagement of learners in STEM programs.
They will recognize the value that this work has for students, the community, and our world.
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